PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Passengers coming to Washington from the UK and South Africa will be required to quarantine for 14 days, Governor Jay Inslee announced on Monday, in response to a new strain of COVID.

More and more countries around the world are restricting travel from Britain and elsewhere amid concerns about new strains of the coronavirus.

The restrictions focus mainly on Britain, which imposed strict new lockdown measures Saturday night because of what it described as the unusually rapid spread of a new strain there.

A few other European countries have confirmed cases of the virus variant, and another strain considered especially infectious has been identified in South Africa. Governments are looking at ways to protect their populations and hospital systems as scientists analyze test results.

“There’s zero evidence that there’s any increase in severity” of COVID-19 from the latest strain, the World Health Organization’s emergencies chief, Dr. Michael Ryan said Monday.